Brush Fire Is Extinguished

March 5, 1985|By Neil Santaniello, Staff

A brush fire of suspicious origin charred an abandoned house Monday, jumped over Florida`s Turnpike just south of Okeechobee Boulevard, and sparked a number of small median-strip fires before firefighters doused them.

Travel on that strip of turnpike was smoky, but the reduced visibility did not cause a traffic tie-up, fire officials said.

The blaze burned for four hours after it broke out at 10:15 a.m. east of the turnpike, near an abandoned house that serves as a shelter for vagrants and drifters, fire officials said.

The structure, off what formerly was called Sykes Road, sits alone in a heavily wooded area and was not occupied when the fire started, fire officials said.

At least 10 acres of pine, palmetto and grass were scorched. Winds blew embers west across the turnpike, sparking a smaller blaze there, fire officials said.

The cause of the fire is undetermined, although arson is suspected, fire officials said.

A pumper drove along the median strip to douse patches of burning grass, said District Fire Chief Steve Jerauld.